Weather Gets Warmer, Perkins Center Gets 'Cooler'

Moorestown playwright Alex Wilkie has always been interested in vaudeville. So when he was asked to write a play for a reading at the Ritz Theatre, he decided that was the time to do it.

“Before the advent of radio and movies, vaudeville was one of the only forms of popular entertainment,” said Wilkie, who has written 20 plays. “Many, if not all, of the older generation of comedians honed their craft in vaudeville and I have had the idea of writing about this unique and very American form of entertainment on and off over the years.”

That play, Coolers, which tells the tale of vaudeville actors who have arrived at the Elite Theatre in Collingswood in May 1926, will be performed at Perkins Center for the Arts in Collingswood.

The name Coolers came from the name given to vaudeville actors who performed at movie theaters between reels of movies while the projectors cooled down.

Charles Gill, a Moorestown resident and the producing artistic director of Imagination Station, will direct the play.

“Chuck and I have had a good relationship since we met in a production of Scrooge at the Ritz Theatre in 2009,” said Wilkie. “I invited him to read one of the parts of Coolers when it had its staged reading at the Ritz last year. He enjoyed the piece and thought it had potential, so he suggested we work together to see if we could produce the show on our own.”

It is the first performance to be held in the building, and the first collaboration between Perkins and Imagination Creation.

“I’m so excited, so pleased,” said Gill. “The potential in Collingswood is endless.”

The performance space at Perkins offers finished wood floors, high ceilings and wrought iron beams. There is no stage in the space, which can hold up to 120 people but only 60 to 70 seats will be sold for each Coolers performance.

“I had always envisioned Coolers as a play that would take place on an empty stage,” Wilkie said. “The action takes place as the actors rehearse and assemble a show; therefore, no complicated sets are required.”

“The performance space helps contribute to the idea that the audience is in a theater and watching performers work on a stage.”

The story revolves around vaudeville actors who are at the Elite Theater to try out material for a new review that will be opening in New York. All the usual acts are there—the comedy team, the baggy pants comic, the offseason professional ball player, the lady with a duck. The producer’s girlfriend throws a wrench in the works when the others realize the show won’t go on without her in it.

“It is a mad-cap, two-act comedy with music,” said Gill, who has been involved in theater in the tri-state area for the past 20 years.

He is excited to be directing Coolers.

“These are 10 of South Jersey’s best actors,” Gill said. “It’s fun to watch how things click in their heads, how things come to life. It makes my job an awful lot of fun.”

He is also excited about where this first performance at Perkins could lead.

“Perkins has embraced us,” said Gill. “We are very fortunate to be collaborating with such wonderful people who see the worth of art and what it can bring to the community.”

Coolers will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 3 and at 8 p.m. March 4, 5, 11 and 12 at Perkins Center for the Arts, 30 Irvin Ave., Collingswood. For tickets, call 856-235-6488 or visit Perkins online.